Vasos Mavrovouniotis

Vasos Mavrovouniotis
Monument to Vasos Mavrovouniotis in Podgorica.
Birth name	Vaso Brajević
Born	1797[1] Mojdež, Republic of Venice (modern Montenegro)
Died	1847
Allegiance	Greek revolutionaries
Battles/wars	Greek War of Independence (1821–1832)

Vasos Mavrovouniotis (Greek: Βάσος Μαυροβουνιώτης, literally "Vasos the Montenegrin"; 1797 – 1847) was a Montenegrin general, who played a significant role in the Greek revolution against the Ottoman Empire in 1821.

Life

Origin and early life

Vaso Brajević (Васо Брајевић) was born in Mojdež, in the Bay of Kotor (modern-day Montenegro).^[2][3][4] He was an ethnic Serb.^[5] He went to the maritime school in Herceg Novi,^[6] where he excelled.^[7]

He was given the nickname Mavrovouniotis or Mavrovouniota, "Montenegrin" (Васо Црногорац), in Greece.^[3]

Greek Revolution

In 1821 he led a force of 120 Montenegrins and Greeks, and joined the early stages of the Greek revolution. His first stop was in central Greece where he met with Nikolaos Kriezotis, an old time Greek fellow warrior,^[8] leader of the Greek Revolution in Euboea, with whom he was a “Vlami” (a spiritual brother, an ancient Balkan practice of blood brotherhood). In 1822 he participated in the fight against the Turks in Athens where he showed bravery and was widely accepted as one of the best fighters of its period.

In 1824 a Greek civil war erupted and Mavrovouniotis joined forces with the government mainly composed of Greeks he knew since the early stages of the revolution. For his commitment to the side that finally won the domestic conflict he was assigned the rank of General and was given a force of 1,500 men; a considerable army at that period. In the period between 1826-27 he was one of the few guerilla fighters not to be defeated by the Egyptian forces led by Ibrahim Pasha, that nearly destroyed the Greek forces. He participated in a failed Greek expedition in Cyprus and Lebanon aiming at inciting a revolt in those areas.^[9]

Service in the Kingdom of Greece

In the newly established Greek state in 1830’s he became a member of the elite that surrounded the first Greek King Otto, prince of Bavaria. He was both a member of the Privy Council and adjutant to King Otto. He died on 9 June 1847 and was widely admired by the Greek people as one of the leaders of the Cause and as one of the leading figures of the independent state.^[10] During his military career he had a leading role in thirty six battles and had suffered many injuries, including a penetrating wound in his chest.^[11]

A dagger belonging to Mavrovouniotis is displayed at the National Museum of Athens. The bayonet-like object on the left (charbi, χαρμπί) was used as knife sharpener or muzzleloader. The dagger on the right bears the inscription (in Greek): "Fighting holy battles for his friend Greece. Vassos Mavrovoniotes".^[12]

Family

Mavrovouniotis married Helena Pangalou from the well known Pangalos family, in 1826. Helena followed him throughout the harsh campaigns in the Greek mountains against the Turks. She died in 1891 and they had two sons, Alexandros and Timoleon, both of whom became generals in the Greek Army.

See also

• Hadži Prodan Gligorijević, Serbian revolutionary in the First Serbian Uprising that joined the Greek War
• Giorgakis Olympios (1772–1821), fellow Greek revolutionary in the First Serbian Uprising and Greek War
• Serbs and Montenegrins in the Greek War of Independence

References

Sources

• Papageorgiou, Stefanos P. (2014). "VASOS MAVROVOUNIOTES" (PDF). Mediterranea-ricerche storiche (32): 463–488. 
• Whitcombe, Thomas Douglas; Eliot, Charles William James (1992). Campaign of the Falieri and Piraeus in the Year 1827, Or, Journal of a Volunteer, Being the Personal Account of Captain Thomas Douglas Whitcombe. ASCSA. pp. 175–. ISBN 978-0-87661-405-1. 
• Chrysologis Athanasios (1876). "The Greek Fight: Vassos Mavrovouniotes, a talk given at the "Byron" Philologic Society, Athens, Jan. 8th, 1876" (PDF). 

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